“Fedor always comes back in the third [round], but he didn’t get a
chance to today,” Coker said during the post-fight press
conference. “As far as a retirement, you know how that goes. People
get very emotional during a fight and we’ll see. My position is we
have many more fights with Fedor, and he’ll honor his
contract.”

Cheered on by a partisan Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.,
Emelianenko failed to unleash the explosiveness that made him the
terror of the Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight division in
years prior. After a back-and-forth first frame that saw both men
throw heavy leather, the Russian was dominated by the much larger
Brazilian in round two. Silva took the fight to the floor and
secured full mount, closing Emelianenko’s right eye with
bludgeoning blows. The contest was stopped prior to the start of
round three on the advice of the cageside doctor.

According to the Strikeforce head, Emelianenko might find himself
thrust back into the tournament field under the right
circumstances. Regardless, Coker has plans for the sambo specialist
if and when he decides to return to the cage in 2011.

“Fedor could absolutely be a replacement [in the grand prix]. A
committee will decide who will move forward [if a fighter is
injured]. I’m not even on that committee. Fedor is definitely a
possibility. It could be Fedor that goes in there, depending on
what the committee decides,” said Coker. “He will be fighting some
high-level competition. He’ll have some more fights before the end
of the year.”

When asked what implications the outcome of the fight might have on
Strikeforce from a business perspective, Coker asserted that upsets
are a part of the game.

“When you have a tournament of this magnitude, new stars will be
born. That’s what happens as this tournament unfolds,” said Coker.
“I think Fedor still has a lot of fight left in him. He might be
out for 16 months, but I think you’ll see Fedor back. But we’re
going to have some amazing fights in this tournament. We just have
to sit back and wait, but I feel very good about it.”

“Fedor is really, really upset, because he was really ready for
this fight. Everyone saw how the fans greeted him. He’s had a
wonderful career,” said Finkelchtein. “I think that the stoppage
isn’t such a clear-cut loss that he will stop. [I think] this loss
will give him more strength to go on in the future.”

Though Finkelchtein felt the stoppage was fair, he wished his
fighter would have been given the opportunity to come out for the
third frame.

“I think that it’s very unfortunate that the fight was stopped
after the second round,” said Finkelchtein. “We don’t know what
would’ve happened in the third round.”

According to Finkelchtein, Emelianenko, who took a trip to the
hospital and was unable to attend the press conference, had little
to say following his defeat.

“The atmosphere in the changing room was pretty quiet. There wasn’t
much said,” explained Finkelchtein. “It was tidying up, and then
they went off to the hospital to make sure [Fedor’s] orbital bone
wasn’t broken.”

Regarding a final decision on Emelianenko’s potential retirement,
Finkelchtein asserted that, regardless of his own feelings, the
final say will go to Emelianenko.

“The decision is up to Fedor, but I think I know him quite well. I
think that he’s still full of strength, and I think he will
continue,” said Finkelchtein. “The decision is up to him, but I
would encourage him [to keep fighting], because I think he still
has a lot to show his fans.”